Club President Norby Rudel called the meeting to order at 12:30pm sharp! Today is World Polio Day and we are sharing our meeting with members of the Coconut Grove Rotary Club. Norby shared an invocation and John Carroll led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Visitors and Guests were introduced by Rick Miller
Richie, Robin, Dane and Bo Danielson are from Minnesota and are in the process of relocating to Haiti to serve those in need on the island;
Mario Alfano is from Italy and works in Miami;
Rick Sanchez is a member of the Brickell Rotary Club and a financial planner with Edward Jones;
Harry de Beziers is President of the newly formed Rotary Club of Little Haiti;
Wesley LaFortune is glad to be with us today.
Pablo Leandro Brandon is a dentist and visiting Miami Beach from the Termas de Rio Mondo Rotary Club in Argentina.
Peter Barcelo, Jr. is a guest of Jay Almeida and an engineer by trade.
Visiting members of the Rotary Club of Coconut Grove were: Steven Arch, Richard Butler, Tim Crowther, Michelle Daniels, Helene Dudley, Tom Koch, Dave Snyder, Mary Walsh, James Willoughby, Susan Wilson and Robert Corrigan.
Happy $$$$$$$$$$$$$ were collected by Brickell Rotarian Rick Sanchez, who mentioned that both Happy and Grumpy $$$$$$$$$$$$ were accepted:
Renel Noel was a big $40 happy today to have all of his friends here today;
Jay Almeida remembered getting together many years ago with past club members Arnold Galperin and Garth Parker to help with the formation of the Coconut Grove Rotary Club;
Diane Landsberg was happy to share today’s program with so many folks;
Noreen Timoney was thankful for all the calls during her recent medical issues and is happy to be alive!
Phil Seipp is happy to see everyone now with two cataract-free eyes;
Harry de Beziers thanked Diane and Noel for their help getting the Rotary Club of Haiti started;
Norby Rudel is happy to have his wife, Maria, here today;
Dave Skinner was happy to be feeling better. He was also glad he didn’t win the big pot last week, since it will be even bigger when he wins today (that’s optimism for you!).
Announcements
Robert Bull shared the many service projects that are upcoming.
Dave Anderson is selling tickets for the District 6990 Golf Ball Drop fundraiser.
Good to see our members Ted Malinin and Noreen Timoney back at the meeting and feeling better. Get well wishes go out to Shirley Pardon – we hope you’re back with us soon.
The new FIU Rotaract banner has been received and we’re just waiting for the District Governor to finalize the paperwork so they can get going officially. Rotaract Clubs are also being formed at the main campus of UM and also at the Medical Campus.
No lunch meeting next week – October 31. Join us at Diane Landsberg’s home for a Halloween Celebration. Please RSVP and sign up to bring a dish to share.
Today’s Program: World Polio Day - Norman Kassoff
Norm Kassoff has first-hand knowledge of polio, since he came down with the disease and could not walk for four years. Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a paralyzing and potentially deadly infectious disease that most commonly affects children under the age of 5. The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water. It can then attack the nervous system.
Polio has plagued mankind for centuries. An Egyptian tomb carving from 1300 BC depicts a dead priest with a foot deformity typical of paralytic poliomyelitis. This suggests that polio may have been endemic to the area for thousands of years;
Hilary Koprowski was a Polish virologist and immunologist who invented the world's first effective live polio vaccine. He tested his vaccine in the Belgian Congo and was successful. The major issue with his vaccine was that it was administered by injection and needed to be refrigerated.
Koprowski came to the U.S. and met with Jonas Salk who improved on the vaccine. After that development, Albert Sabin’s drinkable vaccine came into general usage in the 1960s.
Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 30 years. Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever.
As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Rotary reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since the first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.
Rotarians have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. So far, Rotary has contributed more than $1.8 billion toward eradicating the disease worldwide.
Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio-free. We are this close!!!!
It was a wonderful meeting and celebration of World Polio Day. We thank our fellow Miami Rotarian Norman Kassoff for taking the time to share his experiences and knowledge on this important day.
50/50
The day started with $3,614 in the 50/50 pot. At the time of the drawing, the pot had grown to $3,925. Renel Noel was the lucky first drawn ticket. He’s a previous big money winner with the 50/50, but it was not to be repeated today. He didn’t pick the elusive Ace of Spades. Believe it or not, there are only three cards left – and one of them is really the Ace of Spades. Another big drawing day will take place at our next meeting, Thursday, November 7.
Amelia Bonilla led everyone in the 4-Way Test of the Things We Think, Say or Do. What a great meeting!
